Archive for March, 2009
Over-Tested and Under-Taught: The Strange State of the Present-Day Schoolchild
Posted by David Conway in Education on 03/03/2009
A strange combination of maladies currently afflicts England’s state schools. On the one hand, recent obsession with ‘examination results’ has led many to morph into soulless ‘boot camps’, simply drilling pupils to pass tests, in the memorable image recently coined by Nick Dorey, chairman of the Society of Headmasters and Headmistresses.
The recession triggers East-West divide in the EU
Posted by Claire Daley in European Union on 02/03/2009
Following Eastern and Central EU Member States’ recent mini-summit to discuss fears of protectionism, an informal summit of the leaders of all 27 EU Member States took place on Sunday, writes Kyial Arabaeva. The ambition was to construct concrete solutions to tackle the crisis and to expel worries about protectionism, unequal bail-outs and a feared East-West divide within the EU.
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The end of the B.Ed: one step forward or two steps back?
Posted by Anastasia de Waal in Education on 02/03/2009
Rumour has it that the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) is facing the axe. According to the Times Educational Supplement, university education departments are claiming that the government is planning to ‘kill off’ undergraduate teacher training. Whilst the claim has yet to be confirmed, it has brought a pressing matter to the fore. Since the inceptions of the graduate training routes – the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, Teach First and the Graduate Teacher Programme – the B.Ed has been in decline. Criticisms of the three-four year-long B.Ed revolve around three perceived weaknesses, the first arguably more valid than the others. Firstly, that their current failure to attract the most able students; secondly the perception that they are not cost effective; and thirdly, that the B.Ed ‘only qualifies you to teach’. Given that it is a teaching qualification, this latter criticism in particular, seems somewhat misguided, writes Emily Dew.